Most New Orleanians are painfully aware of the cracked concrete sidewalks that make a Sunday stroll around the city more like an obstacle course. Many are unaware of the layer of St. Joe’s bricks that lies six inches below it. Uptown resident Drew Ward aims to uncover the brick sidewalk, which is fully intact for the most part, in order to address many of the city’s infrastructure problems with his new Back2Brick project.

Drew Ward, the founder of Back2Brick, with the recently uncovered and perfectly in tact brick sidewalk at Oak and Cambronne, where he discovered a Mardi Gras doubloon dating back to 1977.

Back2Brick, a nonprofit registered under Neighborhood Partnership Network NOLA, has uncovered seven blocks of brick sidewalks dating back to the mid-1800s in the Carrollton area with just a few volunteers and some standard yard tools in the past month.

“We have gotten a positive response from most of the residents in our neighborhood, many want to help out and really like the historic look and feel it gives the area,” Ward said. “It’s a great chance for people to get involved with the rebuilding and betterment of their own community.”

The flooding of the streets and sidewalks during periods of heavy rain is something that Ward believes will be improved as a direct result of Back2Brick.

“The problem is that in the 1950s and 60s when they laid concrete and asphalt over all the roads and sidewalks for a quick repair, it built them upwards and prevented the water from draining the way it was designed to, so it just sits,” Ward said. “The brick allows for the water to flow properly and, if we are able to eventually uncover the original cobblestone and brick streets as well, the drainage basins will be able to properly function.”

In addition to drainage benefits, brick sidewalks are also surprisingly more cost efficient. Since the bricks are already present beneath the layers of concrete, the only expense would be investing in the tools necessary to break up and remove the concrete and dirt that is on top of them. In addition, the bricks have an estimated 150 year life span, whereas the asphalt and the concrete have an exceptionally short lifespan of five to 10 years in a city with extreme heat and water movement like New Orleans.

“We have reports estimating that the cost of concrete sidewalk replacement per linear foot is $50, so on a 300 linear feet block it would cost the city and its taxpayers roughly $15,000 per block," Ward said. "With the seven blocks we’ve completed in one month, it is fair to say we have saved the city and its taxpayers $100,000.”

Ward hopes to partner with the city of New Orleans in the near future so that he may gain funding for small construction machinery and tools that will make uncovering the brick sidewalks much more quick and easy. He also has visions of taking the Back2Brick project to the next level in the future by uncovering the brick and cobblestone streets that lay beneath the cracked and broken asphalt in our streets.

To learn more about the project and to find out how you can get involved, like Back2Brick on Facebook or email Drew Ward directly at drew.ward@gmail.com.